Youngstown youth need to be peacemakers, Little Rock 9 speaker urges

October 8, 2014 at 12:09a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

More young people need to serve as peacemakers in their lives and schools, one of the “Little Rock Nine” told a crowd of mostly youngsters at Choffin Career and Technical Center Tuesday night.

Minnijean Brown-Trickey, one of nine black students to integrate the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., in September 1957, paid a heavy price for her actions, she told the crowd of about 80.

It was the “ultimate bullying story,” she said, recounting her daily torment until she was expelled in February 1958. Adding to her suffering was inaction by those in the school who failed to reach out to her, she said.

Tuesday’s two-hour panel discussion titled “Violence in Our Community: What do we do?” was organized by the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence program and Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past in the wake of the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo.

The program also was part of Nonviolence Week in Ohio, which continues through Friday.

Young people have to tap into their inherent power to bring about positive social change, but society and institutions of power also must serve as models for peace, said Brown-Trickey, who also praised youngsters who have committed themselves to nonviolence.

If certain ways of thinking don’t change, violence and other related problems will continue, she added.

Nataesha Dumis, a Choffin 12th-grader, said, “I’ve learned that I can be a leader in nonviolence.” If someone treats her poorly, she walks away, she said.

Attendees broke into groups to discuss the biggest contributors to violence in the city, the types of violence most prevalent in school, their relationships with law enforcement and how they can practice nonviolence. Responses included adding more school mentoring programs, using talents to bring about positive change, improving peer-mediation efforts, having greater media support and walking away from potential trouble.

Reaching out for help and having a trusted person to turn to without feeling embarrassed or ashamed are other important ways to decrease violence, Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally noted.

The Rev. James W. Webb II, a Virginia civil-rights figure who led a peaceful children’s march in 1965 in Selma, Ala., at age 16, said young people standing up to injustices can have a major impact.

“Don’t allow yourselves to be silent,” he continued. “The least you can do is be upset.”